MARGARET E. DICKENS          0064-NC/#210
          "MY NAME IS MARGARET E. DICKENS AND I WAS BORN ON THE FIFTH OF JUNE, 1
861.  MY MOTHER WUZ COLORED.  MY FATHER WAS NAMED HENRY BYRD.  HERE IS SOME OF F
ATHER'S WRITING.  MY MOTHER'S FATHER WAS DARK.  HE HAD NO PROTECTION.  IF HE DID
 ANY WORK FOR A WHITE MAN AND THE WHITE MAN DIDN'T LIKE IT, HE COULD TAKE HIM UP
 AND WHUP HIM.  MY FATHER WAS LIKE A STRAY DOG.
          "MY NAME WAS MARGARET E. BYRD BEFORE I GOT MARRIED.  HERE IS SOME OF F
ATHER'S WRITING-"MARGARET ELVIRA BYRD THE DAUGHTER OF HENRY AND MARY ANN BYRD WA
S BORN ON THE FIFTH JUNE 1861"   MY GRANDFATHER, MY MOTHER'S FATHER WAS A CABINE
T MAKER.  HE MADE COFFINS AND TABLES AND FURNITURE.  IF HE MADE ONE, AND IT DIDN
'T SUIT THE MAN HE WOULD BEAT HIM AND KICK HIM AROUND AND LET HIM GO.  DIS WAS T
OLD TO ME.  MY FATHER WAS A CARPENTER.  HE BUILT HOUSES.
          "I CAN READ AND WRITE.  MY FATHER COULD READ AND WRITE.  MY MOTHER COU
LD READ, BUT COULDN'T WRITE VERY MUCH.
          "I HAVE HEERD MY MOTHER SAY WHEN SHE HEERD THE YANKEES WERE COMIN' SHE
 HAD A BRAND NEW COUNTER PANE, MY FATHER OWNED A PLACE BEFORE HE MARRIED MY MOTH
ER, THE COUNTER PANE WAS A WOOLEN COUNTER PANE.  SHE TOOK IT OFF AND HID IT.  TH
E YANKEES TOOK ANYTHING THEY WANTED, BUT FAILED TO FIND IT.  WE WERE LIVING ON N
OW.  THE OLD HOUSE HAS BEEN TORN DOWN, BUT SOME OF THE WOOD IS IN THIS VERY HOUS
E.  I KIN SHOW YOU PART OF THE OLD HOUSE NOW.  MY MOTHER USED TO PASS THIS PLACE
 WHEN SHE WUZ A GIRL AND SHE TOLD ME SHE NEVER EXPECTED TO LIVE HERE.  SHE WAS T
WENTY YEARS YOUNGER THAN MY FATHER.  MY MOTHER, SHE LIVED HERE MOST OF THE TIME
EXCEPT TWENTY-FOUR YEARS SHE LIVED IN THE NORTH.  SHE DIED IN 1916.  MY FATHER B
OUGHT THE LAN' IN 1848 FROM A MAN NAMED HENRY MORGAN.  HERE IS THE DEED.---
          "WHEN WE LEFT RALEIGH, AND WENT NORTH WE FIRST STOPPED IN CAMBRIDGE, M
ASSACHUSETTS.  THIS WAS WITH MY FIRST HUSBAND.  HIS NAME WAS SAMUEL E. REYNOLDS.
  HE WAS A PREACHER.  HE HAD A CHURCH AND PREACHED THERE.  THE EAST WINDS WERE S
O STRONG AND COLD WE COULDN'T STAN' IT.  IT WAS TOO COLD FOR US.  WE THEN WENT T
O PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.  FROM THERE TO ELMIRA, NEW YORK.  FROM THERE WE WENT
 TO BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.  HE PREACHED IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK;  WE FINALLY CAME
BACK SOUTH, AND HE DIED RIGHT HERE IN THIS HOUSE.  I LIKE THE NORTH VERY WELL, B
UT THERE IS NOTHING LIKE HOME, THE SOUTH.  ANOTHER THING I DON'T HAVE SO MANY WH
ITE FOLKS UP NORTH.  I DON'T LIKE TO BE CALLED AUNTIE BY ANYONE, UNLESS THEY ADM
IT BEIN' KIN TO ME.  I WAS RAISED TO RESPECT EVERYBODY AND I TRIES TO KEEP IT UP
.  SOME THINGS IN THE NORTH ARE ALL RIGHT, I LIKE THEM, BUT I LIKE THE SOUTH BET
TER.  YES, I GUESS I LIKE THE SOUTH BETTER.  I WAS MARRIED TO CHARLES W. DICKENS
 IN 1920.  HE IS MY SECOND HUSBAND.
          "I INHERITED THIS PLACE FROM MY FATHER HENRY BYRD.  I LIKE WELL WATER.
  THERE IS MY WELL, RIGHT OUT HERE IN THE YARD.  THIS WELL WAS DUG HERE WHEN THE
Y WERE BUILDING THE FIRST HOUSE HERE.  I BELIEVE IN HAVING YOUR OWN HOME, SO I H
AVE HELD ON TO MY HOME, AND I AM GOIN' TO TRY TO KEEP HOLDIN' ON TO IT.
  X   XXX